What Are the Reasons Behind a Faulty Airbag Sensor?

Your vehicle’s airbag is an important safety feature because it can save your life when you get into a collision. Airbags help protect you against head injuries. However, you will know when it fails as it will indicate an issue via the dashboard light. The thing is, a lot of drivers ignore this and still hit the road despite the airbag light turned on. 

How Do You Know If There’s an Issue with Your Airbag Sensor?

Here are some of the symptoms of your airbag sensor issues: 

• Exhausted battery: Your airbag has a battery,  and when it’s drained, the sensor will be faulty. The cause behind an exhausted airbag battery is a drained vehicle battery that leads to a blinking airbag sensor light. If this is the issue, you only need to recharge your car’s battery. 
• Faulty Clock Springs: The clock springs ensure proper connection between the airbag and steering wheel through the electrical supply. However, wiring circuits can wear down as it expands and retracts, which can cause the sensor light to blink. 
• Damaged Module: Your airbag module controls the airbag system. However, it can be exposed to moisture that can lead to corrosion. When this happens, it could short circuit, triggering a code in the dashboard. An effective way to solve this is to reprogram or replace the module. 
• Poor Seat Belt Latch: When the seat belt latch isn’t working properly, it could affect the airbag sensor light. This also happens when the seat belt latch doesn’t click correctly into place. 
• Accident: If you get into a minor car accident, the airbag light sensor can be activated, even if it didn’t deploy. The best way to solve this is to reset the airbag. 

How to Reset the Airbag Sensor

To reset the airbag sensor, you need to know where it is. The best way to find this is to check the user manual. You can also check the passenger seat area, the front fascia, engine, and front bumper.

When you find the sensor, an OBD2 scanner can help you diagnose the problem. Another thing to do is open the hood and find the battery, where you will see a positive and negative terminal. Use a socket wrench, remove the negative cable, wait for a few seconds, and reconnect the negative terminal. Doing this will reset all car sensors, which will fix your airbag sensors. 

How Much Does It Cost to Replace an Airbag Sensor?

If there’s a permanent component failure, this may call for a replacement of the airbag sensor. In this case, you need to have a professional do it for you. The replacement can be between $250 and $350, plus labor. Moreover, other factors can contribute to the cost. 

Conclusion

If you are experiencing airbag sensor issues and still hit the road with the light blinking, stop right there now. This could be damaging to you, especially if you get into a road accident. It’s crucial you take it to a professional immediately to diagnose and fix the problem. With that, you will be more at peace on the road. 

Experiencing a faulty airbag sensor? Send your parts to Repair My SRS’s headquarters in MA for an SRS airbag module reset. Rest assured that our professionals will help diagnose and fix your airbag sensor issues. Contact us today!